PRISM AWARDS BEST USE OF AN EVENT TO BUILD OR CHANGE REPUTATION THE BOTANIST: THE FORAGER 2.0 THE FRIDAY STREET CLUB OPENING STATEMENT Three years after launching the super-premium gin brand, The Botanist, in South Africa, The Friday Street Club hosted The Forager 2.0, a foraged mixology competition. The event saw some of the country s hottest bartenders compete to develop the wildest serve using The Botanist and locally foraged ingredients. With no other marketing support, apart from PR and social media, the brand saw positive growth in the number of venues stocking the brand. There was also a peak in sales during the time of the event, with 2 700 bottles booked online as a direct result of the coupon supplied at the event.
STATEMENT OF OPPORTUNITY Three years ago, we launched The Botanist gin in South Africa. Gin was becoming the new trendy drink and new brands were popping up left, right and centre, growing the category dramatically. The Botanist, a premium gin from Scotland, stood out it was an international brand, super premium, and yet had the credentials to appeal a craft loving audience. Fast forward to 2017, and we needed to think of how to keep it relevant. With fierce competition and thousands of local brands jostling for space in the trade and encroaching on The Botanist s unique positioning as a foraged and hand-crafted brand, we needed to make a plan to ensure that bartenders made it their gin of choice.
RESEARCH In 2016 we hosted what would become the precursor to the Forager 2.0, named (unsurprisingly) The Forager. The event also saw a number of top bartenders competing to make the best serve with The Botanist gin, with media, influencers and members of the public as judges. However, evaluation after the event showed that although the competing bartenders and the attending members of the public loved the brand, they often did not know how or where to find it. We realised that we needed to ensure that it was stocked widely in the best bars, that fans knew which bar had their Botanist serves, and that once they were there, the bartenders knew about it. It also needed to be listed on their menus. So we decided to take the event out of their exclusive spaces and the back into the bars themselves driving foot traffic to the bars and supporting the businesses that supported the brand. This was overlaid with Customer Segmentation Modes from CIA (Consumer Insight Agency), which identified the New Age Yuppies segment as a focus. This audience is characterised by never taking anything at face value - what these individuals choose to include in their life is an extension of themselves, and must connect with their ideals: authentic, holistic, balanced.
Our objectives PLANNING To increase awareness of The Botanist Gin amongst our target consumers, to get top bartenders in South Africa as supporters and fans of the brand, and to drive sales. Our messaging The Botanist is a super-premium, highly crafted and delicious gin, made from natural handforaged ingredients. Defining our target audience and the channels we used to reach them We needed to speak to both the bartenders who would compete (and stock the brand) as well as the consumers who would ultimately buy it. Both groups fell within the New Age Yuppies segment identified by CIA. They are well educated, incredibly digitally literate and financially comfortable. They are not reached through traditional media, but are rather influenced by word-of mouth, events and experiences, overseas trends, and what their friends do and think. So, we knew that we had to make these events one-of-a-kind and ones which exemplified everything the brand stood for. It also meant that we placed less importance on lining up column inches of traditional media space, focusing instead of putting on exceptional events, and hosting the RIGHT people, who would become ambassadors of the brand and share their experiences with their circles of friends. On top of this, we wanted to create one-on-one bespoke communications with the media and bartenders we involved, rather than a one-size fits all spray-and-pray approach.
Bartenders received unique starter packs inviting them to partake, and media received physical invites containing The Botanist mini bottles and a selection of fresh, hand-foraged local ingredients to mix their own serve. Our role and budgets We worked very closely in partnership with Herd, who were the activation, social media and creative partners for this event. The total campaign budget was in the region of R400 000, including activation agency fees and event costs.
EXECUTION The events series was broken down into three phases: 1. Bartender forage An integral part of the event was for the competing bartenders to be educated on what foraging meant. A bespoke forage was held for each, hosted by local foraging experts, where they were taught how to forage, what local ingredients could be used, and some inspiring ways to use local ingredients. Watch the video here: https://www.facebook.com/theforagersa/videos/28497926540347/ 2. Regional heats Three bartenders/bars from Johannesburg and Cape Town, and two from Durban, competed in the regional heats. In order to showcase each of the bars, the format of the evening was that of a bar-hop, where guests went to the first bar, tasted their drink and then were shuttled to the next bar in organised transport.
3. National final The winners from each regional heat convened in Cape Town for the finale. A few hours before the event, each contestant was presented with the same mystery box of locally foraged ingredients to create their cocktail from. After prepping and experimenting with the flavours, they moved to the final event, outside on the slopes of Table Mountain on a beautiful, warm, still evening. The winning cocktail was announced after tallying votes from the guests and media, as well as the judges. Watch the video here: https://www.facebook.com/theforagersa/videos/300854880319452/
Media and communications included: Launch and post event media releases and communications Facebook and Instagram channels (managed by Herd) Video series Direct mail /desk drops and invites One-on-one interaction with media attending and judging at events, with on-site media management EVALUATION Objective 1: Increase awareness for The Botanist Gin
6.3 million people reached through media and communications. Over 50 media guests at the events. Objective 2: Get bartenders on board as ambassadors for the brand. Anecdotal feedback below: Objective 3: Drive sales Tamika Sewnarain, The Botanist Brand Manager, confirmed that the Forager 2.0 influenced sales and that they saw an increase in venues that had been stocking the brand since the first event in 2016. Peak in sales during campaign period. The event was shortlisted as one of four finalists in the Best Brand Campaign in the BAR (Bartender Accolades and Recognition) Awards.
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